I'm amazed that everyone seems to have so many problems with SBDs. Mine are fine, despite being dropped in their baggy, gerenally played with by both me and my sister, and kept upstanding in general display.

Regarding cracking under the arms or similar, just don't stand on them, as that seems to be the main cause of my cracks. Also, swapping out the arms might cause damage, but I'm not sure..._________________http://www.ogame.org

Removing a minifig arm will cause damage to the torso. That's what causes the crack in the armpits. IMO it also causes those cracks you get running from the wrist to elbow. The pressure you put on the 'wrist' to pull the arm off make microfractures that eventually cause the arm to crater._________________BRICKSHELFFBTBflickr

I notice alot of my older figures have cracks and lose bits because of just me moving the joints around so much. And also replacing arms, legs, hands, with other ones.

The way I keep mine in good condition is I don't move them hardly ever. But if you rinto playing with figs then just be catious of how you move them and play with them._________________DeviantART|Brickshelf

I frequently swap minifigs arms, play with my SBDs and generally handle the figs. I only have 2 busted droids, one of the "fingers" broke on one, and the waist snap broke on the other, so now they're Battlefield wreakage. Some of my older minifigs though do have slight cracking on their torsos and arms, but nothing to serious. I have noticed that on some of the new Indy figs though, that the legs tend to detach from the pelvis rather easily. _________________ASTORIABLUELEGOS ><>

Really?
I've known minifig arms (if you move them all the way round) to feel "loose" in a particular position (usually when they're at the top, facing backwards). Other than that, I've never had a minifig develop cracks or other problems. Then again, I'm not a Lego Minifig Surgeon (LMS for short) and I don't yank my little friends to bits.

As for you lot, well.......you better sleep with one eye open because those 'figs will get you for what you've done to them! They'll crawl up your bed duvet and push "flick-fire" missiles up your nose!! _________________FBTB: The Final Chapter
See it come to an end, starting Monday 2nd February 2009.

Joined: 07 Aug 2007Location: Dwelling in the darkness making goofy faces at everyone.

Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:37 am Post subject:

I haven't had too much trouble with my SBD's aside from one. Accidently broke one trying to put a BD back into the little vehicle. Oh well more battlefield wreckage.

I haven't really noticed much cracking on my figs except my two originals which say heavy heavy playing. My exploriens who I played with a lot don't show cracking just a slight looseness in the legs and a hand or two. None of my other old figs show any signs of wear except a loose leg or two. Most of my new lego figgys just go right into a ziploc. So time will only tell what happens to them._________________
"You are fortunate, my enemy. You have paid the price but once. I never stop paying."-Cursed Ronin. MTG

I had some problems with my SBDs also, I broke two leg hinges in 5 seconds just buy trying to put them on the torso. So now I have to legless SBDs, so there just scenery now But I don't really have problems with any other figures, but taking the legs/hands/arms/head off frequently can cause problems. So if you do take of the body parts frequently, don't do it as often._________________BOO!

The horrible quality of SBDs has gotten me to the point where I superglue their legs to their torsos regardless of age or status._________________I was wondering if I might possibly receive a portion of your brain matter to consume.

Fortunately, the Lego SBD's don't have that much articulation to begin with, so losing the ability to have them bend over isn't a huge loss. Also in the films they mostly just march in straight lines with their blaster arm raised, so having to glue the arm in a fixed firing position isn't a big deal.

Out of the dozen or so SBD's that I have "in play" only one or two isn't superglued at at least one point by now. My sons love to have the droid armies mowed down, and they especially like to tear the droids apart to show that they are wrecked._________________"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." - G.K.Chesterton

Many of my older minifigures have cracks in their sides and their arms, but that all happened years ago, and most of those are around 20 years old.

I haven't had a minifigure crack in probably ten years, and I'm constantly switching arms and hands out, and legs from the hips. They don't even really get loose.

I guess I'm just a lot more careful than I used to be when switching minifigure pieces. I think maybe when removing pieces, I just apply the pressure in all the right places to make nothing ever crack.

I think some of the newer torsos are perhaps slightly more rigid, and thus crack more easily. I have a Han Solo (brown legs, vest torso) which I've never "adapted" yet cracks have formed in both arms up from the wrists and now at the lower back of the torso. And I've never even removed the hands or legs! I wonder if the newer "pointy-shoulder" torsos are any different in composition, but maybe only time will tell._________________Just Phil

I wonder if the newer "pointy-shoulder" torsos are any different in composition, but maybe only time will tell.

Are there new torsos being made? When did this happen? Is it happening for all the Lego themes or just Star Wars? I'd be interested to know if anyone else has had such problems._________________FBTB: The Final Chapter
See it come to an end, starting Monday 2nd February 2009.

It is really very disappointing how torsos and arms on carefully displayed minifigures can spontaneously crack over time.
I have had a Jango Fett and Greedo split their sides... no laughing matter.
The Greedo also had stress fractures on its back. The cantina was one of the first sets I bought so I guess it was getting old.
The Yoda minifigures seem very susceptible to their sides cracking. The legs are too tight in the torso.
Although aware of the problems with the Gunship SBDs I have never had any problems with these but have got a few extra in lieu of the problem developing. I re-boxed a few SW sets today and made sure to separate the torsos from the legs to try to reduce the stress and avoid the cracks developing.

I hope that the plastic used in newer sets are less likely to become brittle and break over time.

The only ones I had problems with were the old SBD's (I'm too nervous to touch the new ones, I don't want to break them), the regular battle droid arms that crack, and cracks on other figures (rebel pilots in particular. I think some of my more rare ones had cracks too, like my Zam minifig.

What are the conditions that you guys have your minifigs in? I kep all my legos in my closet and I have never had problems with any of them. I don't really play with my legos because I'm more of a looker and builder but..._________________"May the Schwartz be with you!"-Yogurt

My collection does not see much play use but is displayed on open shelves away from direct sunlight or too much heat. However much of it has been bought second hand and so may have seen some previous 'action'.
I have found droids from the older sets (7184, 7126) are fairly brittle and their arms become like bakelite and crack very easily. Even some figures from discontinued but newly opened sets developed fractures to their torsos.

Regardless of conditions I think the problem is mostly one of age. Maybe some old production batches are more susceptible to degradation than others.

Over the years I've had a set of super battle droid legs crack, as well as many, many minifigure arms and the odd torso. Sometimes it's a factor of age, sometimes of excessive play by previous owners, sometimes because of me switching arms (make sure you remove the hand BEFORE you take an arm off), and sometimes I think the plastic they use for certain colours, especially tan, is just of cheaper quality.

I wonder if the newer "pointy-shoulder" torsos are any different in composition, but maybe only time will tell.

Are there new torsos being made? When did this happen?

I noticed when I picked up my Ang from the Fire Nation ship the other day, and I immediately felt that the shoulder areas were noticeably pointier, and sure enough, they're not rounded like torsos from time immemorial. Two of the rebel troopers in my lone battlepack were "pointies" as well, and so were a handful of my two dozen new Aquaraiders. Not sure about the ABS material, but the mold is definitely different -- maybe a by-product of different manufacturing plants using different molds?_________________Just Phil